The Purpose and Goals of
The Purpose and Goals of
Personal Counseling
By Howard Foltz
Introduction
To be human is to have needs of counseling is one of the ministries of the church in helping individuals meet their basic needs through the life of Christ. Gary Collins offers a very useful definition of counseling: "Counseling can be defined as a relationship between two or more persons in which one person (the counselor) seeks to advise, encourage, and/or assist another person or persons (the counselee) to deal more effectively with the problems of life."
Counseling fits into the traditional three-fold task of the church: kerygma – the teaching and preaching of the Gospel; koinonia the establishment for horizontal and vertical fellowship; diakonla – the implementation of faith in loving service. Counseling is kerygma in that it is a teaching ministry,
it is koinonia in that it strives to remove the barriers that block fellowship with God and our fellow men, and it is diakonia in that through counseling an expression of service is extended to human need.
Spiritual, mental and emotional health is everybody's business, but particularly the business of the church. In a report presented to the United States Congress, it was revealed that pastors outnumbered psychiatrists 35 to 1. For every person who went to a psychologist or psychiatrist for help, more than two people went to a pastor. Of those who went to pastors, about two-thirds reported that they had been helped, but less than half who had consulted professional counselors were satisfied. The conclusion is obvious the church is commissioned with a highly significant counseling vocation. To what other counselors can troubled people go to find meaning and purpose in life? Even Sigmund Freud recognized this. He wrote, "Only religion is able to answer the question of the purpose of life. One can hardly go wrong in concluding that the idea of a purpose in life stands and falls with the religious system."
I. What are the goals of counseling?
A. Maturity in Christ is of primary importance (Eph. 4:11-17).
1. The five ministry gifts of Christ – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers were given to the church "for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ" (Eph. 4:12).
2. Two of the ministry gifts, pastors and teachers, relate especially to the counseling ministry.
3. The end result of the ministry gifts is to develop "a perfect man." "Perfect" (Gr. Telios) means "that which has reached maturity."
B. Helping the person fulfill his basic personality needs is an important goal.
1. Dr. William Glasser maintains that a person has only two essential personality needs:
a. He needs to love and be loved.
b. He needs to feel that he is worthwhile to himself and others.
1. God is love and people learn to live by following His example – “ We love, because He first loved us" (I John 4:19). If a person is estranged from God by sin, his basic need to learn how to love cannot be fulfilled.
2. Fulfillment of our need to feel worthwhile comes from an actualization of what it means to be created "In the image of God" (Gen. 9:6).
3. The Latin root meaning for religion is "to bind together." The Christian experience binds together God and man who were previously separated by sin. This act of reconciliation relieves man's sense of alienation and anxiety, placing him in a receptive state, thus allowing his basic needs to be fulfilled in Christ.
II. What are the qualifications of a counselor?
A. The counselor should be spiritual. "Spiritual" in the Greek means "having the mental disposition or characteristics of the Spirit; possessed of the Spirit." To be spiritual simply means to be possessed of the Spirit, to have spiritual attitudes, and to release the life of the Spirit.
B. He should posses a mature faith. This refers to more than being able to quote scripture verses and exercise spiritual gifts. The following are some criteria for a mature Christian faith:
1. Mature faith should be purged of childish, egocentric concern; it should be Christ-centered instead of need-centered.
2. Mature faith is spontaneous and not merely an emulation of someone else's faith.
3. It is humble and teachable, no longer in the spiritual "can you top this?" stage.
4. Mature faith possesses a motivational force of its own. In other words, the mature Christian worships God primarily to bring pleasure to Him, not to meet his own personal needs. It is not merely a "tripping out on Jesus and getting high on Him" for personal gratification.
5. Mature faith has consistency of behavior, i.e., "You will know them by their fruits" (Matt. 7:16).
6. It provides a comprehensive meaning to life. This meaning integrates the person into fullness of life and relationships.
7. The mature Christian is always seeking for more light, deeper humility, greater faith, (a divine discontent).
C. The counselor should be emotionally mature. The following are criteria for emotional maturity given by the Menninger Foundation, one of the foremost Mental Health Clinics in America:
1. Being emotionally mature means having the ability to deal constructively with reality.
2. It means having the capacity to adapt to change.
3. It means having a relative freedom from symptoms that are produced by tensions and anxieties
4. It means having the capacity to relate to other people in a consistent manner with mutual satisfaction and helpfulness.
5. It means having the capacity to sublimate, to direct one's instinctive hostile energy into creative and constructive outlets.
6. It means having the capacity to love.
D. The counselor should have a healthy self-respect and not be self-condemning. The source of accepting others is accepting ourselves.
E. He should manifest respect for, and acceptance of, others.
F. The counselor should have a loving, therapeutic approach, not a condemning or negating approach.
G. Openness and honesty are important. Counselees will pick up any trace of phoniness.
H. The counselor should have a good understanding of his motivation. Caution should be exercised not to make the counselee dependent on the counselor in order to satisfy the counselor's need for self-aggrandizement.
I. The counselor should have a shepherd's heart, i.e., the ability to discipline when necessary, pour oil on the wounds, root out poisonous plants from the pasture, and guide away from danger.
III. What is the counselor's viewpoint of the counselee?
A. Every person must be viewed as a worthy individual.
B. The counselee should not be viewed simply as just having "problems" and possessing a "soul", but as a whole person.
C. Every person is unique. Bernard Shaw once said, "The most sensible man I have ever met is my tailorhe measures me every time." The counselor must beware of "pigeon-holing" problems and people. Appropriate medicine should be applied for the specific problems. Remember, don't bandage the left hand to heal a broken right leg.
D. The counselor leads the counselee to help himself. The part of the personality which copes with relationships and responsibilities is like a muscle. It grows stronger with exercise and atrophies with disuse. The counselor alms at helping the person exercise his coping abilities, thus gaining strength and confidence in handling whatever life brings his way.
E. The relationship with the counselee is vastly more important than counseling techniques.
F. It is God, not the counselor's skill, that effects help and healing. "I dressed the wound, God healed him," said Dr. Amroise Prae.
IV. What is the counseling relationship?
A. The interpersonal relationship between the counselor and counselee is the core of the counseling process. The basic ingredients of this relationship are rapport and empathy.
1. Rapport refers to a spirit of cooperation, confidence, and harmony between the counselor and counselee.
2. Empathy is the awareness and understanding of the feelings and emotions of the other person. It refers to tuning into "the internal frame of reference of the counselee, and sharing his joys and sorrows."
a. Sympathy is not empathy. A counselor could empathize (understand) with the conflicts and sin that lead to adultery, but he should never sympathize (emotionally agree) with the sin. Christ empathized with sinners whose sin He condemned.
b. Empathy relates to "agape" love which is more concerned with giving than getting.
c. First Cor. 13:4-8 shows the fruits of empathy.
B. Listening is the most effective way to establish the counseling relationship.
1. Listening is more than just "hearing," it is an "involvement" with another person.
2. A person listens at a rate of 125 words per minute, but thinks four times as fast. The danger is that the counselor will try to "second-guess" the counselee or think ahead of what he is hearing.
1. By listening, the counselor shows his willingness to get involved with the person in need, i.e., he is offering the gift of himself.
2. Listening is the vehicle by which empathy, understanding, and acceptance are shown.
5. Giving advice without listening is foolish. "He who gives an answer before he hears. It is folly and shame to him" (Prov. 18:13).
6. As the counselor listens, he should listen for several things.
a. Listen to what he is saying.
b. Listen to what he is implying, i.e., listen between the lines."
c. Listen to what he would be saying if he really trusted you.
d. Listen to his body language. For example, what he is saying by his nervousness, his inability to look you in the eye, the expressions on his face, etc.
e. Listen to his spirit, i.e., 'what he is saying out of the depths of his spirit. "Watch over your heart with all diligence. For from it flow the springs of life" (Prov. 4:23).
7. The three revelation gifts of the Spirit are important in listening and counseling-the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, and the discernment of spirits.
a. The Holy Spirit has been given to be a "Counselor, Advocate, Comforter, and Strengthener" (John 14:16 Amp).
b. The counselor always needs the help of his "Senior Counselor."
c. False spirits need to be tested and confronted by the Holy Spirit.
(1) There is the "spirit of slavery leading to fear again" (Rom. 8:15). This is the spirit of bondage, both to former idols and to selfishness, that must be broken by the power of the Blood and the Cross.
(2) The "spirit of fear" (2 Tim. 1:7, KJV) can only dealt with by the perfect love of God that casts out fear. (I John 4:18).
(3) The charismatic gift of the discernment of spirits gives the counselor the ability to determine if the counselee might be oppressed by the spirit of slavery or fear, or if the counselee is actually possessed by evil spirits.
d. The word of knowledge is a super-natural revelation about certain facts in the counselee's life. This gift can also give the counselor supernatural revelation regarding how to help the counselee.
e. The word of wisdom is also a super-natural revelation. It differs from the word of knowledge in that it relates to revelation primarily about the future, whereas the word of knowledge relates to the past or present. The word of wisdom is an unfolding of divine purpose, a declaration of the mind of God. In counseling, God can use this gift to enable the counselor to apply precisely the appropriate solution directly from God's mind regarding the counselee's problem. It should always be kept in focus that God never reveals the word of knowledge or wisdom apart from the truth of His Word. It is the Word of God that is the guide and rule for everything in the believer's life.
C. The goal of listening is to gain understanding of; the counselee.
1. There are several Greek words for understanding: dianoia meaning "deep thought, understanding intelligence"; phren meaning "understanding that requires intelligence"; sunesis meaning "the mental putting together."
2. The counselor applies deep thought, dianoia, to what he hears, seeking the meaning behind what is said.
3. It takes concentration, phren, to put things together intelligently.
4. Just as the intellect or reason is used to put separate pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together, the counselor seeks, to fit together, sunesis, all the pieces of what is said to make a complete picture of understanding.
V. What is nouthetic counseling?
A. Jay Adams in Competent to Counsel, points out that biblical counseling relates to "admonishing."
1. The goal is to bring the counselee into loving conformity to the Word of God.
2. The counselee is confronted with the reality of his situation, and is not allowed to dwell in fantasy.
3. The problems are not labeled "sickness," but rather "sin" and "irresponsibility."
4. Through the relationship and Involvement with the counselor, the counselee can begin to see his unrealistic, irresponsible behavior.
5. The counselor rejects the sinful, irresponsible behavior, but accepts the counselee as a person. Unreality is never accepted, but the person is accepted uncritically.
6. The counselor must be strong and never be expedient. Many times permissiveness is nothing but "cruel kindness." Strength and discipline tell the counselee, "you are worthwhile enough for me to care and even to take the risk of your misunderstanding me."
7. The primary concern of nouthetic counseling is not why the person has done what he has done, but what he has done.
8. A good question to ask is, "What is your plan to get out of your predicament?" By asking this question the counselor is saying, "you need a plan, and it is your responsibility to make a plan."
B. The following are some reasons for failure in nouthetic counseling:
1. Nouthetic counselors fail when they become too sympathetic to the complaints and excuses of the counselee.
2. They fail by coming to conclusions too quickly and giving out advice before an understanding is reached.
3. Failure comes from being overbearing instead of loving in the use of authority.
VI. What are the types of counseling?
(Adapted from The Pastor and His Counseling Service by Gary Collins and Basic Types of Pastoral Counseling by Howard Clinebell.)
A. Supportive counseling may be used.
1. The following are the goals of supportive counseling:
a. Undergird, hold up, and stabilize troubled people.
b. Help the person gain strength and stability so that he can cope with his problems.
2. What are some of the instances in which people may seek supportive counseling?
a. Serious illness in the counselee or his family may occur.
b. The death of a loved one may cause the person to seek counsel.
c. The breakup of a marriage or engagement may be the reason for seeking help.
d. Failure of any kind may be difficult for the person to handle.
e. Rejection by a significant person may be a serious blow.
f. Severe disappointments often cause people to seek help.
g. Any other crisis may be viewed as serious enough to seek help.
h. Personal characteristics such as immaturity, inadequacy, or strong dependency are frequently causes for seeking counsel.
i. Low intelligence or lack of desired abilities may be the cause for seeking counsel.
3. What are the characteristic techniques or guidelines of supportive counseling?
a. Be a "shoulder to lean on." This involves reassuring, comforting, guiding and sustaining.
b. Be a "shoulder to cry on," listening while the counselee pours out his troubles.
c. Encourage the counselee to face his problem.
d. Give an objective view of the situation.
e. Help build up and support psychological defenses such as self-confidence.
f. Change the counselee's environment. This may, for example, involve removing him from a stressful home situation.
g. Encourage activity.
h. Utilize spiritual resources such as prayer, Scriptures, devotional readings, etc.
i. Discuss the meaning of the counselee's problem.
4. What are possible dangers of supportive counseling?
a. Over-dependency by the counselee may occur, especially if the second goal is ignored.
b. The counselor may encourage the counselee to "wallow" in his problems.
B. Confrontational counseling is the second type of counseling suggested.
1. Following are the goals of confrontational counseling:
a. Force the person to face and deal with some sin or difficult situation.
b. Help him to develop the moral strength to avoid similar problems in the future.
2. What are some sample problems which may need confrontational counseling?
a. Any illegal or immoral action, e.g., illegal drug use and possession, illegitimate pregnancy, may be revealed.
b. Any action which the individual, society, or Scripture considers to be wrong may cause them to seek help.
c. Any action which causes guilt feelings often causes people to come for counseling.
d. Dissenting factions in the church may bring people to you.
3. What are the characteristic techniques of confrontational counseling?
a. Confront the counselee with the evidence.
b. Support and accept him as a person.
c. Encourage confession to God and to the people he has wronged. (Prov. 28:13; I John 1:9; James 5:16)
d. Give assurance of God's forgiveness. (I John 1:9) e. Help the counselee forgive himself.
f. Guide the counselee as he makes restitution (when this is possible).
g. Encourage alternate and more responsible ways of behaving.
h. Encourage and strengthen the conscience and self-control.
i. Guide spiritual growth.
j. Utilize prayer. Scripture reading, and reliance on the Holy Spirit.
4. What are the possible dangers of confrontational counseling?
a. Pride, or "one-up-manship" in the counselor may occur.
b. The counselor may reject the counselee because of his actions.
c. The counselor may moralize, lecture about the counselee's behavior, and ignore most of the techniques in the previous section.
d. Not helping the counselee to change his behavior and to strengthen his control is a danger.
C. Educative counseling may also be used.
1. Following are the goals of educative counseling:
a. Discover with the counselee what information is needed.
b. Provide information or help the counselee to find information.
c. Show him how to find information on his own in the future.
2. What are some problems which may bring a person to you for educative counseling?
a. Vocational counseling may be sought.
b. Premarital guidance may be needed.
c. Marriage and family counseling may bring people to you.
d. Questions about theology or the Bible may need answering.
e. Social incompetence may make him feel inadequate.
f. Requests for advice may be sought.
g. Troublesome behavior which the
counselee does not understand may cause him to seek help.
h. Tensions, problems, and doctrinal divisions in the Church may bring people to you.
3. What are the characteristic techniques and guidelines of educative counseling?
a. Encourage questioning.
b. Be supportive if the question might be embarrassing to the counselee (e.g. teenagers asking sex questions).
c. Communicate information or direct the counselee to a source of information, such as a book or knowledgeable person.
d. Provide opportunity for discussion of the information.
e. Encourage the counselee to use the information when possible (i.e., information about dating should be used in dating situations).
f. Give encouragement and praise when genuine learning appears or when desirable changes in behavior occur.
g. Make suggestions which would help the counselee to gain insight into his behavior.
h. Be alert to other issues. Requests for information often hide basic problems.
4. What are the possible dangers of educative counseling?
a. The counselee may become overdependent on the counselor as a teacher.
b. The counselor may believe that passing out information will always bring genuine learning or behavior change.
c. The counselor may manipulate the counselee (pressuring him to accept ideas).
d. Domination of the counselee may occur. This is easy if you are giving information, making interpretations, or teaching new ways of behaving.
e. The counselor may think that he is an "expert" in some area just because people ask for his advice.
D. Preventative counseling may also be used.
1. Following are the goals of preventative counseling:
a. Anticipate problems before they arise.
b. Prevent worsening of existing problems
2. What are some problems which may lead to preventative counseling?
a. Youth with increasing sex drives may come for help.
b. High school students facing college may need information.
c. Young people facing marriage, the military, etc. may seek counsel.
d. People who are preparing to retire may need assistance.
e. People with a serious illness, facing surgery, or other crisis may come to you.
3. What are the characteristic techniques or guidelines of preventative counseling?
a. Be alert to the potential problems and dangers.
b. Confront people with the dangers.
c. Educate in sermons, discussions, private talks, etc.
d. Avoid an all-knowing, "holier than thou," superior, or non-trusting attitude.
e. Be tactful.
f. Encourage discussion of potential problems.
g. Know suggested solutions or ways to avoid problems.
h. Be alert to relevant Scriptures.
4. What are the possible dangers of preventative counseling?
a. A potential problem may be ignored until it becomes serious.
b. Over dramatizing potential problems may make them sound worse than they really are.
E. Spiritual counseling is another type of counseling used.
1. Following are the goals of spiritual counseling:
a. Clarify the issues and find solutions to theological problems.
b. Help the counselee to find meaning and purpose to life.
c. Teach people how to grow spiritually.
2. What are some sample problems that may bring people to you for spiritual counseling?
a. Problems of doubt, unbelief, and confusion may arise.
b. Problems of emptiness, meaninglessness, or lack of purpose in life may be pressing problems.
c. A desire to know God may be present.
d. Confusion over "the meaning of life" crisis is a problem that may bring people to you.
e. Confusion and disagreement in the church over doctrinal issues may bring those who need guidance.
3. What are the characteristic techniques of spiritual counseling?
a. Encourage free expression of problems, concerns, and doubts.
b. Be honest in your reactions, beliefs, etc.
c. Avoid cliches and superficiality.
d. Be willing to discuss, to raise pertinent issues, and to confront.
e. Be alert to relevant Scripture, and to other sources of information.
f. Teach facts concerning spiritual rebirth and growth to spiritual maturity.
g. Point out spiritual needs in the counselee's life.
h. Utilize prayer and reliance on the Holy Spirit's guidance.
4. What are the possible dangers of spiritual counseling?
a. The counselor may fail to recognize that theological questions may hide deeper problems.
b. The counselor may squelch the counselee with comments like, "Trust in the Lord and your problems will all disappear." Paul trusted, but he still had a thorn in the flesh.
c. The counselor may tend to read a few Bible verses and not deal with the real concerns of the counselee.
d. The counselor may assume that spiritual problems are all the result of sin. For example, a desire to learn spiritual truths is not the result of sin (Acts 17:11).
F. Referral counseling is also frequently used.
1. The following are- goals of referral counseling:
a. Provide short-term support or other temporary help.
b. Refer the counselee to another counselor.
2. What are some problems which may lead to referral counseling?
a. The seriously disturbed may be more than you are qualified to handle.
b. The severely depressed or suicidal may need other help.
c. People who need long-term counseling may need to go to someone else for help.
d. Those whom you are not helping may relate better to another counselor.
e. People who need medical care may need to see a doctor.
f. People you strongly dislike need someone with whom they can better relate.
g. People who need help in managing finances and budgeting may need counseling in an area which may require outside resources.
3. What are the characteristic techniques or guidelines of referral counseling?
a. Be alert to local referral sources (other pastors, professional counselors, community clinics, school counselors, etc.).
b. Know who to refer (see "spiritual counseling").
c. Create the expectation for referral (e.g., "We may find that someone else could handle this better.") Mention this early in an interview where referral seems possible.
d. Help the counselee see the value of referral.
e. Be accepting (since referral is sometimes seen as rejection).
4. What are the possible dangers of referral counseling?
a. The counselee may think that referral is really rejection.
b. Referral may be made too quickly. Often the pastoral counselor can be of more help than he realizes.
c. The counselor may not refer when he has neither the competence, training, nor time to handle the problem.
G. Depth counseling is sometimes used.
1. The following are the goals of depth counseling:
a. Uncover and deal with deep emotional problems.
b. Create counselee self-awareness and insight.
c. Restructure the personality.
d. Create more effective functioning.
2. What are some problems that may bring people to you for in depth counseling?
a. The severely disturbed may come for help.
b. People with deep personal problems, insecurities, depressions, social inadequacies, etc., may seek counseling.
3. Characteristic techniques of depth counseling are varied and often technical. Depth counseling should be avoided by pastors unless they have specialized training in this area and plenty of time for counseling.
4. The major danger lies in poorly trained people attempting depth counseling.
VII. What are helpful scripture references for use in counseling?
(Taken from Effective Counseling by Gary Collins)
Anxiety and Worry
Ps. 43:5; 46:1-2; 9:11; Prov. 3:5-6; Matt. 6:31-32
Anger
Ps. 37:8; James 1:19; Col. 3:8
Comfort
Ps. 23:4; Lam. 3:22-23; Matt. 5:4; 11:28-30
Courage
Josh. 1:7-9; Ps. 27:3; 31:24; Prov. 3:26, 14:26
Discouragement
Josh. 1:9; Ps. 27:14; 34:4-8; 17-19; 43:5
Doubts
Ps. 37:5; Prov. 3:5-6; John 7:17; 20:24-30; Heb. 11:6
Envy
Ps. 37:1-7; Prov. 23:17; Rom. 13:13; Gal. 5:26
Faith
Rom. 4:3; 10:17; Eph. 2:8-9; Heb. 11:6; James 1:3
Fear
Ps. 27:1, 8, 14; 46:1-2; 56:11; Isa. 43:1-5, 51:12
Forgiveness for Sin
Ps. 32:5; 51:1-19; Prov. 28:13; Isa. 55:7; I John 1:9
Forgiving Others
Matt. 5:44; 6:14; Mark. 11:25; Luke 17:3-4; Eph. 4:32
Grief and Sorrow
Ps. 23:4; Matt. 5:4; 11:28-30; John 14:16, 18
Guidance
Ps. 32:8; Prov. 3:5-6; John 16:13
Hatred
Eph. 4:31-32; I John 1:9; 2:9-11
Helplessness
Ps. 34:7; 37:5, 24; 55:22; 91:4; Heb. 4:16
Loneliness
Ps. 27:10; Prov. 18:24; John 15:14; Heb. 13:5
Needs
Ps. 34:10; 37:3-4; 84:11; Phil. 4:19
Patience
Heb. 10:36; James 1:3-4; 5:7-8, 11
Peace of Mind
Isa. 26:3; John 14:27; 16:33; Rom. 5:1; Phil. 4:7
Praise
Ps. 34:1; 50:23; 107:8; 139:14; Heb. 13:15
Sickness
Ps. 103:3; James 5:14-15
Temptation
1 Cor. 10:12-13; Heb. 2:18; James 1:2-4, 12
Trials
Matt. 5:10-11; Rom. 8:28; 2 Cor. 4:17; 2 Tim. 3:12
Weakness
Ps. 27:4; 28:7; Isa. 40:29, 31; 41:10
Wisdom
Prov. 4:7; Job 28:28; James 1:5
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